Taipei Locals' Favourite Pepper Cake Bun. Zheng Zu Hu Jiao Bing 丞祖胡椒餅

We tried a number of Taiwan pepper cake stalls during our Taipei trip and our favourite was Zheng Zu 丞祖胡椒餅 (off Chongqing South Road). Zheng Zu has the best combination of juicy peppery pork filling and browned crisp chewy crust of all the pepper cakes we tried during our week long trip.



We took quite a bit of trouble before tracking down the Zheng Zu pepper cake stall. It was John and Joanne's favourite from some years back but they couldn't remember the name of the stall - only that it's located at Chongqing South Road.

When we finally found it, we were quite disappointed that the shutters were down 😂 We waited a while and asked the shops around if Zheng Zu will open for business today. We were told "If they are still not open now, it means they're off today..... ." 😥




Disheartened, we got into a taxi for our next food stop. As the taxi pulled away from the curb, the shutters opened up 😄 It felt like our sky suddenly brightened too 😄 We immediately turned the taxi around, paid the bewildered driver and got off with beaming smiles at the exact same spot we started 😂

Foodie adventures are sometimes comical.



Zheng Zu stall is run by husband and wife team Mr. 黄 and Ms. 王. 黄 and 王 actually have full time jobs and comes to the stall only on weekends. On weekdays, the stall is run by Mr. 黄's mum. Mr. 黄 wants to preserve the family heritage and also let his mum have the weekend off.



Zheng Zu pepper cake stall was founded by Mr. 黄's grandparents way back in 1941 😮 Zheng Zu now has four outlets in Taipei.



Mr. 黄 kneads the dough at the stall and Ms. 王 makes the cakes, packing it tightly with well marinated minced marbled Berkshire pork 黑毛豬, pork slices and lots of chopped chives.

I like it that at Zheng Zu, there's aspic 肉冻 mixed into the filling which will melt into sweet juices when baked in the oven (the same technique is used to give xiao long bao and shen chien bao their broth inside).



The pepper cakes are baked at nearly 300℃ inside, stuck to the side walls of a charcoal fired tandoor style oven.



The ivory white cakes are baked till they are golden brown outside.



The pipping hot pepper cakes are bagged in brown paper sleeves and served to waiting customers.



4-Stars (out of 5). Zheng Zu 丞祖胡椒餅 has my favourite pepper cake during this Taipei trip. The sesame seed studded crust was crisp and chewy. The savoury sweet peppery minced pork filling was juicy - the juiciest I've tried this trip as it has tongue scathing hot melted aspic inside. The peppery spiciness was mild and lingers briefly in the mouth. It's a pleasant perky tingling sensation. The chopped chives stewed in pork juices added its unique sweet, subtly grassy flavour to the cake. Delicious pepper cake this.

When we asked Taipei locals for pepper cake recommendations, Zheng Zu had the most mentions.



Haha so enjoy loh 😄



Stall name: 丞祖胡椒餅 Zheng Zu Hu Jiao Bing



Address: No. 89, Section 1, Chongqing South Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, 100 
GPS: 25°02'36.7"N 121°30'47.8"E | 25.043527, 121.513274
Tel: +886 2 2331 3880
Hours: 10:30am - 7:00pm



Address (Shilin 陽明戲院 outlet): No. 2, Lane 101, Wenlin Road, Shilin District, 111, Taiwan 台北市士林區文林路101巷2號
GPS: 25°05'17.3"N 121°31'33.6"E | 25.088127, 121.526008
Hours: 2:00pm to 1:00am
Tel: +886 919 272 735



Non Halal

Date visited: 22 Oct 2017



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